


Happiness and All that Fickle Emotion Entails

by Ididntsignupforthisshit (myhamartia)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Awkwardness, Bisexual Shiro (Voltron), Close Platonic Kidge, Coming Out, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Shiro/Allura, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Ollie's fucking Mechanic AU they've had since forever - finally posted, Pansexual Lance (Voltron), Platonic Relationships, She/Her Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro is Keith's father, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Trans Female Character, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, im so excited, it's gonna be a Ride trust me, that's a thing that hopefully I'll be able to touch on, to the estranged parents hoo boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:07:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11014956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhamartia/pseuds/Ididntsignupforthisshit
Summary: “Do you want to come inside?”“I… I guess.”Keith didn’t know why he agreed. Maybe it was because he didn’t know how to refuse, maybe it was the promise he made to his Gran before coming to this little town. Maybe, just maybe, it was the curiosity.Takashi Shirogane had changed a lot from the last time Keith had seen him. He didn’t seem as tall, for one - but Keith supposed that that observation was simply something to do with age, as Keith hadn’t seen this man since he was just six years old. Keith supposed all kids thought their Dad’s were larger than life when they were small.Beyond that, there was the scar stretching over his nose, long and nearly reaching each cheekbone, and then the sleeve of tattoos he certainly didn’t know about, all stretched up his right arm.





	Happiness and All that Fickle Emotion Entails

**Pidge** : make me proud boyo

     It sounded like the words were a send off to death row.

     Keith gave a rough sigh and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

     He looked up across the road, to an open shop building with the generic hanging sign displaying the test “Clearwater Auto Shop” in faded square lettering. It looked like the place was falling apart. He was beginning to question his mental state when he realized that he was actually considering going in.

     He teethed at his bottom lip, trying to talk himself out of this for the eightieth time. He couldn’t afford to _not_ go in, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he was willing or eager to do the deed.

     He snapped the band on his his wrist. The rubber bit into his skin and he hissed for a moment before he gained back his bearings and moved. His shoes thumped heavily as he crossed the street.

     The day was hot, and Keith could feel heat radiating off of the asphalt in waves. He wanted to pluck at his shirt, to separate it from his body for a second of relief, but he held off. He controlled his breathing and hurried his pace to get to the shade of the garage, though he knew no relief would await him there.

     The strong scent of gasoline and motor oil assaulted his nose coming into the building. While the building smelled filthy, Keith couldn’t really say it was such. It was actually rather well maintained. The floors were swept clean, even if into a large pile off to the side, waiting to be done away with. Tools were caught between being hung up and scattered around work benches.

     Keith walked up alongside an ancient Ford truck on his way in. It looked beyond repair, but yet here it sat, the hood up as someone tinkered inside noisily.

     With a solid little prayer (that was more of a plea to whatever good karma he had stored up) that the one under the hood wasn’t Takashi Shirogane, he rounded the front of the car.

     Apparently, his good karma stores hadn’t failed him this time, as the grey overall-ed figure ducked and grease covered person wasn’t, in fact, his father.

     “Hey, dude,” Keith started up conversationally, like his heart wasn’t threatening to jump out of his throat at the subject of this whole venture. A second later, his heart was jumping for an entirely different reason.

     That was the second that he got a decent look at the young person under the hood. They were tall, looking with extreme concentration into the truck’s engine. Keith couldn’t really help the path his eyes chose to take, tracing over their forearms and broad shoulders. That lead up, where Keith took in curly dark hair and long eyelashes framing eyes he couldn’t really see under the shadows of the hood.

     Keith cleared his throat when he had realized he had been staring. That, and how this person had yet to respond or even acknowledge him. He frowned before realizing the white earbuds trailing out of their ears. _Oh_. He waved his hand out, in their line of vision in an attempt to draw their attention.

     He wasn’t expecting them to jump like a startled cat, going so high and so far as to bang their head on the rusted red hood. They spluttered some words Keith didn’t exactly recognize beyond the fact that he knew that they were curses. They had dropped whatever tool they were working with and took to clutching their head, switching over to curse in the English language, now.

     After a moment, the earbuds were yanked from their ears and they positively _glared_ at Keith.

     More curses in a language Keith couldn’t speak. They looked like they were about to break into tears, only hanging on by the barest of threads. They made a strangled noise, still clutching at the back of their head. “Warn a guy, huh!?” they all but yelled, bending over some.

     Keith winced in sympathy. “I tried?” he said, his tone sharp. “It isn’t my fault that you had your stuff too loud!”

     They gave Keith a wild look. Their hands were less clutching at the wound and more of gently rubbing. They breathed a string of words. “Alright, alright,” they muttered. “Jesus Christ.” Keith shuffled on his feet, looking around the shop, simply to avoid the blue eyes of the other. They seemed impatient with him, as they tapped their foot against the concrete, making an irritated noise. He snapped finally, “So can I _help_ you, or did you just come in here to give me a head injury?”

     Keith whipped his head over to him. “ _Excuse me?_ ” He didn’t mean for it to sound so loud, or snappy, but that’s very well what happened. “You banged your head all on your own!”

     They made an angry face, taking a step forwards and jabbing a dangerous finger in Keith’s direction. “Listen _bucko_ -!” The words halted at the same time Keith head a door being to open behind him. He looked over his shoulder, in the same direction the other was looking. He saw a woman coming out of a little room off to the left of the garage doors. Her long white hair trailed behind her, looking far too immaculate for someone to be in such a grease smeared place such as this.

     “What’s all the shouting about?” was the question she asked, her face hold an expression of great concern and slight annoyance.

     Keith say the young mechanic straighten off to the side.

     “Er… um…” It seemed like they tried to form cohesive sentences. A+ for trying, Keith supposed.

     “He banged his head,” Keith supplied for him, waving a tired hand in the other’s direction.

     “After you scared the shit out of me!” he exclaimed, all the fire returning to those pretty blue eyes.

     “It wasn’t my _fault_ ,” Keith ground out from behind closed teeth, “that you had your music blasting out your goddamn ears.”

     The woman cleared her throat. “Lance, there’s an ice pack in the first aid station. Help yourself to it, please.” Her tone of voice didn’t exactly leave room for the argument this _Lance_ seemed to _really_ want to have. Instead, Lance grumbled out more curses and, still cradling his head, shuffled across the floor to the office. Sighing, the woman turned back to Keith, giving him her full attention. “I apologize for him,” she said, all business. “Now. I am Allura. How may I help you?” She clasped her hands in front of her. Keith thought that she looked very out of place.

     He exhaled heavily, unhappily turned back to the subject of his visit. “Yeah, um. I was looking for Takashi Shirogane. I know he runs this place and I’ve got some-,” what exactly was he supposed to say here? His only thought was a never ending loop of the same sentence: Goddammit Gran. “... business. With him. Yeah.” _Nailed it_ , chimed a sarcastic voice in his head.

     “Business?” she repeated with a frown, that strange accent pulling at the syllables in an odd way. “Of what sort?”

     He shrugged, stuffing a hand into his pocket. “I mean, it’s kind of between me and him. Private business.” _Embarrassing business_ , he thought. It wasn’t really embarrassing, just… difficult and extremely uncomfortable. The lady didn’t seem to want to drop the issue. “Look, do you know where he is?”

     Allura paused, lifting a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. “He’s out,” she said shortly. “He should be back in a bit.”

     Keith frowned. “He’s never where I need him.” The grumble must have been caught by the woman, because her expression morphed from annoyed to curious.

     “I’m sorry?”

     “It’s nothing,” he assured her. “Do I leave my number and call back later?”

     “You could,” she hummed. “But he really should be back soon. If you’d like to wait, there’s a chair in the office-”

     Keith made a face. “Trust me, I’m good. Besides, your boy in there looks like he’s plotting my murder right about now.” He looked over her shoulder to the open office door, where the young man was leaning against a desk, an ice pack gently pressed to the top of his head. The woman followed his gaze to the young man, giving him a firm look. He straightened instantly, hopping off the desk to stand upright.

     Allura let out a small breath as she looked back to Keith. “Very well. There’s paper in the office, if you’ll come with me.”

     He followed her across the floor to the little room. He chose to hover outside the door and glare back at the mechanic who moved further into the room, away from the woman as she searched for a pen and paper.

     Soon, Keith was scribbling his cell phone number down onto a slightly crumpled business card. He clicked the pen and gave it back to the woman. “It’s not urgent,” he said, “actually it’s pretty low on the priority list. Just tell him to call whenever. Preferably next week or something.” Anything to avoid _that_ conversation.

     Allura looked a little suspicious after that last statement. Her eyes narrowed at him, no doubt scrutinizing everything from the shade of blue his irises were, to the brand on shoes he wore. “I see.” She paused, looking him up and down once more. “I didn’t catch your name.”

     “Keith,” he answered. “Keith Park.”

     Allura nodded. “Alright. I will let Shiro know as soon as he returns.”

     He didn’t even attempt at a smile, grateful or not. “Thanks.”

     Keith backed out of the office, tossing one more glare to the kid in the back, babying his wound. That was… something. Admittedly, it was better than he had expected, but he equated that to the fact Takashi was out at the time, unavailable for the Conversation Keith was here for.

     Oh well. He’d take what blessings he could get where he could get them. He picked up his feet, hurrying to leave the garage and the smell of oil and gasoline behind him. He wasn’t so lucky, as just as he was coming out of the garage, he witnessed a car pull up. The car itself was about as old as Keith, a bit dented, with chipped paint. He didn’t really think anything of the old thing before he glanced in the windows and saw the driver.

     It seemed that his meager supply of luck had since run out. He couldn’t bring himself to move his feet off of the cement ramp down to the parking lot. He simply watched dumbly as Takashi pulled the car up to a parking spot to the side of the building. He gathered some things out of the backseat, a few plastic bags, and a drink carrier from the passenger seat before exiting the car.

     Keith watched as he made the trek up to the opened garage door. He watched, caught like a deer in the headlights, as the man startled, looking Keith in the eye. He gave a little smile.

     “Afternoon,” he said, stopping short in front of Keith like he wasn’t causing Keith’s brain to overload and short circuit all at once. He seemed to have picked up on the loss of words, because he tilted his head curiously. “Are you alright?” he asked just a moment before the sound of high heels took over and thudded heavily between Keith’s ears.

    “Ah! Shiro there you are. Magnificent timing! This young man was just looking for you.” she said. “Serious business.” The way she said it, paired with a cute little wink had Keith reeling. This wasn’t some joke.

     Keith decided in that moment that he didn’t like this Allura. He was considering renaming her The She-Devil, Bringer of All Bad Things. Keith knew he winced as Takashi looked between the two of them. Not like a subtle wince when one doesn’t like their hosts cooking, but something a little bigger and full bodied.

     “I’m glad I caught you then,” Takashi said, a smile coming to his face. It’s the nonchalance that tells Keith that Takashi has absolutely no clue as to who he is. “Do you want to come inside?”

     “I… I guess.”

     He didn’t know why he agreed. Maybe it was because he didn’t know how to refuse, maybe it was the promise he made to his Gran before coming to this little town, looking for this man. Maybe, just maybe, it was the curiosity. Takashi had changed a lot from the last time Keith had seen him. He didn’t seem as tall, for one - but Keith supposed that that observation was simply something to do with age, as Keith hadn’t seen this man since he was just six years old. Beyond that, there was the scar stretching over his nose, long and nearly reaching each cheekbone, and then the sleeve of tattoos he certainly didn’t know about, all stretched up his right arm. He remembered a few of them, the older ones he picked out easily over Takashi’s arm, but the others were all recent, within the last fifteen years, or so.

     He twisted on his heel, following Takashi and Allura in the garage, once again into the shelter from the sun.

     Lance made an appearance from the office, peering curiously out from behind the door frame. His bright eyes widened when he saw Keith coming back into the building, but his attention was drawn elsewhere when he saw Takashi’s full hands. He came out into full view, popping a fist in the air as he did. “Alright! Lunch!”

     Allura took the cup carrier from Shiro, and Lance came forwards to retrieve the plastic bags.

     With his hands newly freed, Takashi turned to look at the young man behind him. “The office is in here,” he said. Keith nodded, following along until he was sat in a wheely chair in front of a long desk Takashi sat down heavily behind.

     “So,” he said, a little smile teasing at the corners of his mouth. “‘Serious business,’” he quoted in a teasing tone. Keith hated it. He didn’t go on, so Keith assumed that was his cue to state his piece.

     “Yep.” He trailed the word off, popping the p as he did. He patted at his knees, rubbing at the strings covering the holes in his knees. Keith wondered if the silence was as awkward to Takashi as it was to him. Probably not. The man looked at him curiously, like he was trying to figure him all out. There was no spark of recognition in his eye, though. No eureka moment. Nothing. Keith licked his lips before speaking. “You have no clue who I am, do you?” he started off. It wasn’t a question, rather a statement.

     Takashi gave a little chuckle. “I’m sorry if I should,” he said. The humor was sickening. Keith’s stomach did a pathetic little plunge. Something akin to sadness swam there, and Keith didn’t understand why the emotion would have manifested now. Takashi frowned at his silence. There was worry in his eyes, now. “...Should I?”

     Keith shrugged a little. “Yeah. You should.” He sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “Then again, I guess it’s been a while, Pops.” The name was bitter on his tongue, but Keith couldn’t think of any other method of revealing who he was. Anything else would have been weird. Weirder than calling his father an endearment he hadn’t used in fifteen years. Which was saying a rather big Something.

     It seemed to do something to Takashi. He froze, first off; it was like it was his turn to be the deer in caught in the headlights of life. Next, he straightened, his back becoming like a ramrod against the back of his chair. His mouth opened and closed many times, like he was trying to find the correct words to say. Keith wanted to scoff, finding himself in a very similar place.

     He seemed to finally unknot his tongue long enough to choke out a few little words. “ _Keith?_ What-? Why-? I, I didn’t recognize you. You’ve grown up so much!” The disbelief in his voice was unreal. Keith wanted to sneer at him, to use every colorful word, every hurtful phrase he knew, just to show Takashi how much he had really grown.

     “Yeah.” Keith nearly rolled his eyes at the man in front of him. “That’s what happens to humans. They grow and develop.”

     “I know, but…” He shook his head, looking Keith over. Keith said nothing else, so Takashi was left to try and help the conversation forward. “What are you doing here?”

     “First of all, it wasn’t my idea,” he said gruffly. “Gran has this idea that I’m ‘depressed’ and ‘lack motivation in life,’ and that I need a male figure head to guide my hard walk in life.” He thought that his impression of Gran was rather good, personally. Putting the thought away, he crinkled up his nose. “I’m none of those, nor do I need a father figure.” He rolled his eyes for good measure. “But she insists on it. Therefore, she says I can’t come back home until I make a conscious effort to… Shit, how did she put it exactly? Make a conscious effort to reconnect with the stable figures in my life.” He crossed one leg over the other. “I dunno why she thought _you_ were the most stable figure in my life. I, personally think that she might be going a little senile.”

     Shiro winced, his shoulders flinching with the movement.

     Keith went on, “I mean, mom did say she wanted,” he waved a hand between them, his nose scrunched up, “ _this_ to happen. I’m pretty sure she thought the same thing Gran does.” His face showed about as much exasperation as his voice gave.

     “That you’re…” Takashi trailed off, letting Keith finish the sentence.

     “Depressed. Which I am not.” _Officially_. He dug his fingers into his upper arms, where Takashi wouldn’t be able to see. “I’m just working through shit in my own way.”

     Takashi’s face morphed into something along the lines of fatherly concern. Keith briefly wondered how he managed to master that look. _Did he have other kids, now?_ He found that he didn’t really want the answer, nor did he like the look directed towards him.

     “Are you doing okay?” he asked. Keith didn’t think Takashi had the right to have that level pity when speaking to him.

     He bristled, snapping, “I am perfectly fine.”

     Takashi frowned. “Obviously there’s something happening if your mom sent you all the way out here-,”

     “Gran,” he interrupted firmly. “Gran sent me up here. And I am absolutely _fine_.”

     Takashi frowned. He sucked in a breath. “Right.” He paused, seemingly lost for words. “Where are you staying?” he asked.

     Keith gave a shrug. “I checked into the tiny motel downtown.”

     Takashi frowned. “You shouldn’t have to do that. You could come stay with Allura and I.” Keith’s eyebrows rose. _Allura and I_. Were they dating? Married? “We have a guest bedroom, you’d be more comfortable there.”

     Oh yeah? Keith wanted to snark. He held himself off and just shook his head. “Thanks, but no thanks,” he said. “I’m not staying long. Probably like, a week at most.”

     “Oh.” The frown didn’t leave Takashi’s face. “Then… you should at least join us for dinner.”

     “I… dunno if that’s a good idea, you know.” Keith gave a little shrug. “There’s a take-out place I saw on the way in. I kind of wanted to take a look at it.” He didn’t, really, but if that was the excuse that would get him out of a “family dinner”, he was prepared to take it.

    “There’s always another night for take-out,” Takashi said. He must have saw the uncomfortable look Keith felt himself make, as he shifted in his chair. “Just...think on it. I’ll give you the address.” He made himself busy himself with shuffling papers. He found a little Post-It and a pen. He held the little orange square over the desk. Keith leaned up and took the paper. The scrawl was messy. Keith could barely make out the words.

     “I’ll think about it,” he said, terse. It seemed like the conversation was over. The tense feeling in the air said so, at least. Keith ran his wrist up his outer thigh so that the black rubber band slid up to his fingers. He stretched the rubber between his pinky and thumb to distract from that heaviness in the air weighing down on him. “Well,” he said stiffly. The rubber band snapped back and he rolled it back onto his wrist. He patted his knees before standing. “I’m going to go.”

     “Right,” Takashi said, standing as well. Keith looked at him, unsure of what to say in the “farewell” department. It seemed he didn’t have to, though, because there was a nearly visible light bulb that lit up Shiro’s features. “Before you go, come meet Allura.”

     Keith frowned. “I met her coming in,” he said.

     Takashi smiled, waving a hand. “No, let me go introduce you both.”

     Keith opened his mouth to say something like “well, good talk Dad,” before bolting, but Takashi was already clear across the room and reopening the door. He gestured for Keith to take the lead, so he did. He felt like a robot. Or maybe one of those creepy-ass nutcrackers. The ones like in the play, where they never bend in the knee, and their arms always swing oddly at their sides. Keith’s couldn’t help but feel like he was copying their movements.

     Coming out of the air conditioned office to the dry, hot wind was a little uncomfortable, and it made Keith want to shrug out of his jacket. He left it on, but plucked at the hem of his tee.

     He followed Takashi silently to another side of the building, past another two cars that were strung up, their engines exposed. They came to a little area with a white fold-out plastic table, topped with the food Takashi was carrying earlier. Lance and Allura were seated on mismatching roller chairs on either sides of the table, digging flimsy chopsticks into greasy take-out containers.

     Allura caught sight of them first, her eyes brightening as she sat up a little straighter.

     “Ah, there you are!” she cheered. Lance startled at the sudden noise. He tossed a look over his shoulder. The expression was bright and open until he laid eyes on Keith. It was then that his expression melted into a glower. “Did you take care of it all?” Allura asked curiously.

     Keith casted a look to Takashi.

     “Sorta,” his father said. They came to a stop at the table, Keith still rigid beside Takashi. Allura stood when they drew nearer. Lance simply glared into his lo mein carton, stabbing the noodles with an unnecessary violence. “Keith is actually someone I want you to meet,” Takashi told the woman.

     “Oh?” she looked between Keith and Takashi for a moment. Keith licked his lips, preparing for the inevitable.

     “Yes. Keith, this is Allura, my wife.”

      “Pleasure to meet you, Keith.” Allura offered her hand, and Keith took it, giving her a firm shake (it didn’t even compare to hers, but he wouldn’t get into that right now).

     He couldn’t help but look at her long, manicured nails and think back to her “good humor” when Keith had first arrived without connecting the two and making the realization that _this woman could be his personal evil stepmother_.

     He nearly laughed at the image of this Allura in a classic Disney Witch, or better yet, Cinderella’s stepmother's outfit. Thankfully, he kept his face under control, muttering a small “Nice to meet you,” in return.

     “And Allura, this is Keith.” Takashi paused and Keith had _serious_ doubts that he would finish the introduction. Allura nodded with a warm smile.

     “So I’ve gathered,” she said, laughing.

     He couldn’t quite pinpoint why he disliked her so much, but the well of dislike is running deeper by the moment.

     “Keith is my son,” Takashi told her.

     The silence that followed was more than a little awkward. For Keith, it was all about that subtle (yet a little painful) tightening grip around his hand. Allura had yet to move, much less release his hand. There was the shifting of eyes, from Allura, to Keith, to Takashi. Nobody knew what to say.

     Well damn. Is there still time for that dramatic run out of the building?

     And then, just as everything came to a screeching halt, it seemed to pick up and begin again, going double time..

     Allura released his hand at the exact same time a great choking noise was heard. Lance was choking on his noodles, and Takashi was by his side in an instant, hitting his back.

     Keith didn’t know what to concentrate on, the mechanic fighting for his life over there, or to the woman staring him down with wide blue eyes.

 _Damn_ , Allura was kind of winning. He winced, curling in on himself a bit.

     He was really ready to get out of here. Period. He was ready to go home - and he’d only been around for less than a day.

     This trip was going to be just _amazing_ . He could practically _feel_ it.

**Author's Note:**

> HOOO BOY.  
> Can you _feel_ how fucking excited I am for this???? Can you???  
>  I feel like I've hyped this up WAY too much over on discord, but Whatever. I'll do what I can, lol
> 
> I hope you liked it! It's been a really long time coming. I wanted to make sure I had a lot already written before I started posting, and, well, here we are.
> 
> All of my thanks go out to Mikiri! They were amazing and beta'd this for me! <33
> 
> If you liked it, please drop me a comment! It's my Motivation and Writing Fuel.
> 
>  
> 
> [And, if you like, you can check me out over on tumblr](http://peanutbutterandbitter.tumblr.com/)


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